Articles by Bryan Leonard |
 The Scramble for Pitching
Bryan Leonard Jun 25, 2008
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This is a good time of the baseball season to take a second careful look at starting pitching. Pitchers need time to work. They need to pitch regularly to build up arm strength and hone their command. You often see a pitcher throw a couple of good innings and then, WHAM, he gets pounded, giving up ...
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Baseball's Busts
Bryan Leonard Jun 19, 2008
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It's only June, but already there have been some surprises and some busts this baseball season. Here's a look at some of baseball's disappointments.
Mariners: The addition of strikeout king Eric Bedard to potential ace Felix Hernandez gave Seattle a dynamite one-two lefty/righty punch a ...
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Riding Hot Young Arms
Bryan Leonard Jun 8, 2008
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Pitching is probably the most prized commodity in baseball. The baseball draft just took place and while Tampa Bay took a shortstop with the No. 1 overall pick, notice that the previous two years young pitchers went No. 1 in lefty David Price (Rays) and righty Luke Hochevar (Royals). Pitchers develo ...
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NBA Finals Matchups
Bryan Leonard Jun 5, 2008
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The NBA Finals finds the top two teams in each conference meeting, old rivals the Lakers and Celtics. It’s a battle of matchups and tempo. The Lakers are young, athletic and prefer an uptempo pace, averaging 108 ppg this season. Boston can play both styles, but prefers an intense, defensive style, w ...
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Baseball Surprises
Bryan Leonard May 18, 2008
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One aspect of handicapping that’s important to focus in on, especially now that we are several weeks into the season, is the mood of a team. Some clubs are off to better than expected starts, like the Rays, Marlins and Braves. Players on teams like this can be excited about coming to work each day a ...
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NBA Playoff Roar: A Different Animal
Bryan Leonard May 6, 2008
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Yes, that NBA playoff roar you're hearing is a different animal from the one you saw and heard during the regular season. The games are different. One, they mean more. Two, teams see each other 4 to 7 times in the span of a week or two. This makes adjustments a huge factor by the coaching staffs. J ...
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Baseball Road Treks
Bryan Leonard May 2, 2008
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It’s essential for sports handicappers to understand the significance of home and road play. Teams in all sports usually play significantly better at home than on the road for a variety of reasons. Think about all the inconveniences when you travel on the road: Time spent driving to the airport, pa ...
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Baseball Surprises, Moods and Injuries
Bryan Leonard Apr 29, 2008
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One aspect of handicapping that’s important to focus in on, especially now that we are several weeks into the season, is the mood of a team. Some clubs are off to better than expected starts, like the Orioles, White Sox and Marlins. Players on teams like this can be excited about coming to work eac ...
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Baseball Stats, Fantasy Numbers & Parks
Bryan Leonard Apr 26, 2008
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There are a lot of fantasy baseball leagues and players around the country. Drafting and analyzing players on a day to day basis is an excellent tool for handicapping baseball games. The fantasy players need to examine each player’s stats and injury status to see whether they should be in the line ...
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NBA Playoff Notes: Rest, Age and Youth
Bryan Leonard Apr 22, 2008
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During the regular season handicappers carefully look at spots where teams are playing long road stretches and back to back spots. For instance, playing a game on Monday, then playing again Wednesday and Friday is far different from playing Sunday and Monday, then Wednesday and Thursday. The latt ...
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NBA Playoffs: Defense Rules
Bryan Leonard Apr 18, 2008
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The Nuggets and Lakers are going to be interesting to watch this NBA postseason. Not because they’re playing each other in the first round, but because they are teams far better on offense than defense. That’s because you advance in the playoffs more often than not with defense.
Look wha ...
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Baseball's Overlooked Edge: Relievers
Bryan Leonard Apr 15, 2008
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Relievers in baseball don’t get much of the glory. Nor do they get much attention, except when they blow saves or walk in the winning run in the 10th. Still, for sports bettors, examining bullpens is a very important handicapping tool. Understand that starting pitchers generally go 6-7 innings, e ...
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No Strike or not to Strike?
Bryan Leonard Apr 13, 2008
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One often overlooked avenue of baseball is the free pass, players drawing walks or pitchers issuing too many four-ball freebies. From a handicapping point of view, this can reap benefits, especially this time of year with the beginning of a brand new season.
Last year Indians lefty C.C. S ...
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April Baseball: Cold Weather & Cool Bats
Bryan Leonard Apr 5, 2008
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So how did the Royals sweep the Tigers? Detroit couldn’t hit! Despite all that offensive power the Tigers have on paper, they struggled to score runs. If you look at the third full day of baseball last Thursday, the unders started out 7-1 that day. All of which is not uncommon this time of the yea ...
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NBA Eastern Bubble Teams
Bryan Leonard Apr 1, 2008
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As we wind down the NBA regular season, just like college basketball, we find several teams fighting for their postseason lives. Atlanta is battling New Jersey, Philadelphia and Indiana for the final playoff spot in the East. The Hawks rely on their veteran backcourt for points. Joe Johnson and Mik ...
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Long Road Trips for NBA Bottom Feeders
Bryan Leonard Mar 24, 2008
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As we wind down the end of the regular season, this is a great week to look at teams that have already packed in the season. There happens to be tough road trips this week for some REALLY bad NBA teams. Take the Knicks – please. The Knicks just had their 50th defeat, on the path to the franchise's ...
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NBA Road Ahead: Tough Stretch for the Clippers & Bobcats
Bryan Leonard Mar 11, 2008
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What’s blue and red and has no home? The LA Clippers! That is, the Clippers have played 11 of the last 12 games in Los Angeles, and yet they are a miserable 1-8 straight up and 2-7 against the spread the last nine games. They’ve played only two official road games during that stretch, and one ...
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Baseball Surprise Teams
Bryan Leonard Mar 9, 2008
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Baseball wagering is about money-lines and value, meaning you have to pick straight up winners, not point spreads. There are many surprise teams each season. Some are teams that were expected to be weak or mediocre but explode as one of the better teams in the league, making a pennant run. Other tim ...
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NBA Road Trips & Home Stands
Bryan Leonard Feb 26, 2008
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So who’s up and who’s down this week in the NBA? One way to get a sense of who might get hot or go cold is the schedule. The NBA trades last week got all the attention, but handicappers and oddsmakers take careful notice of road trips and situational spots.
One team that might get hot this w ...
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The Texas Triangle
Bryan Leonard Feb 23, 2008
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The Bermuda Triangle is etched in American folklore as a mysterious place where planes and ships have encountered all kinds of difficulties. It’s an enigma dripping with fear, as some unfortunate people have entered the triangle and have never been heard from again. In the NBA, there’s a simila ...
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